Improved electro-magnetic apparatus for setting water-engines in motion



G. FARMER.

Electric Alarm. No. 22,602.

Patented Jan. 11, 1859.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES G. FARMER, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WM. F.

OHANNING.

IMPROVED ELECTRO-MAGNETlC APPARATUS FOR SETTING WATER-ENGINES IN MOTION.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 22,602, dated January 11, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Moses G. FARMER, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful apparatus for setting in action a waterengine and controlling the same at a distance by means of electromagnetism, my invention being more particularly applicable to the purposes of a fire-alarm telegraph.

The nature of my invention consists in the application of what I call an electromagnetic escapement to the cock controlling the supply of water of a water-engine, and to a pawl or detent arresting-the motion of said water-engine, in such manner that it may be set in mo tion and stopped by the agency of electricity directed to it through conductors from a distance. By this means the water confined under pressure in the pipes of cities and towns can be used as an economical source of power in connection with the electric telegraph for municipal or other uses.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried out the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which is represented, in perspective, a View of the apparatus which I employ.

The electromagnetic apparatus for liberatingand controlling the action of the waterengine, which I call my electromagnetic escapement, is the same mechanism as that for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted me on the 4th day of May, 1852, with certain improvements, which I shall now describe.

A is an electro-magnet, communicating by its terminal insulated wires to b with the screwcups B G, adapted to receive the ends of the telegraphic circuit.

D is the armature of the electro-magnet A, attached to the arm ature-lever c, which is firmly affixed to the rocker-shaft d d, which is supported by the upright stands a c.

f is an adjustin g-sprin g which holds the armature back from the magnet when the electric circuit is not closed.

E is a lever aftiXed to the rocker-shaft g, which is supported by the upright stands k k. The lever E is weighted at its top by the ball or cylinder F, and is so inclined from the perpendicular that it tends to fall in the direction of its arrow under the influence of gravity. A spring may be used to re-ent'orce this weight, or as a substitute for it. A stop or support, R, limits the motion forward of the weighted lever E.

Attached to the rocker-shaft g are three levers-the lever h, carrying the roller n,so placed as to fall upon and be raised by a half-revolution of the double cam G G 5 the lever "i, which catches in the latch l of the armature-lever 0 when this is held back from the magnet byits spring f, and which thus holds the weighted lever E in its upright position against the influence of gravity, and the lever or cam m, which throws forward the lever 0 in the direction of its arrow when the weighted lever E falls under the influence of gravity. The lever t' is stopped by the support 12 from dropping rnuch-below the latch l. The lever o is affixed to the rocker-shaft g, which is supported by the upright stands k k. The levero is held back in its position of rest by the spring 8, attached to the arm 1", whose further motion is stopped by the support t. The lever 0 is pro longed below the rocker-shaft q in the form ot a latch, to, which in its position of rest holds down the lever 11.

The lever 2) may be either the tail of a hammer adapted to strike on a bell, or it may be, as in the drawing, connected, by the wire to, with the tail w of a hammer-lever,Ty or, placed above, as in the tower of a church; or the bell may be removed in either case, and the hammer-lever or weighted arm, T you, or a weighted arm similar to a hammer-lever, attached to o, as its tail may be used simply to operate the water-valve and raise the detent of the machinery by its inertia in falling, as will hereinafter be described.

The lever 11 is supported by the upright stands Z Z, and carries an arm, a, to which is attached a horizontal rod, 1/. It also carries a roller, m, so placed as at suitable times to fall against and be restored to its first position by a half-revolution of the double-cam G G.

The cam G G is attached to the shaft H, which is supported by the upright stands I I, and coupled, by the coupling K, with the shaft of the rotary water-engine represented at M. This engine may be of the form known as Hases water-meter, now in use in the city of Boston, or in any other form of rotary water-engine, or by a slight change in the mechanism any form of reciprocating water-engine may be used.

Attached to the shaft H H is a wheel, P, having two prolonged notches at opposite points in its periphery, of which one is represented at at.

Q is a lever with a detaining-elbow, e, at its extremity, which takes into the notch d or the corresponding notch on the opposite side of the wheel 1?. The lever Q is affixed to the rocker-shaft 0 which is supported by the stands Z Z. This shaft (2 also carries a crooked arm, f, from which projects a horizontal rod, 9, which takes into a slot, h, in the lever i. This lever operates the watercock is in the supply-pipe N of the water-engine M. The arm f in its position of rest is held in the direction of its arrow against the bent rod or stop 0 by the spring Z. By the same action the lever or detentQ is held when at rest in its notch d in the wheel P. When the arm f is thus held back in its position of rest the valve 70 in the supply-pipe N, controlled by the lever t, is closed, so that the force of water is shut 01f from the water-em gine M.

S is a bell, suitably placed to receive a blow from the hammer-head T.

Operation:- When the terminal conductors of a telegraphic circuit are connected with the screw-cups B and O, and an electric current is directed through it for a moment, the electromagnet A becomes charged and attracts its armature D, releasing the lever i from the latch l. The weighted arm E falls forward in the direction of its arrow, and the lever or cam 012, under the influence of the inertia of the falling arm E, throws forward the lever 0, releasing the lever c from the latch to. The hammer '1, held in its raised position by the wire 10, connecting it with the lever 12, is now free to fall upon the bell, and as it fails it raises the lever v. The rod 1), carried by the arm a, actuated by the inertia of the hammer, strikes up the detent Q, carrying back at the same time the arm f, with its rod 9, in the direction contrary to that indicated by its arrow. The rod 9 act-' ing in the sloth carries with it the lever '5, opening the cock k, (which was previously shut,) so that the water enters the rotary engineM,and,escapingbythewaste-pipe0,causes the compound shaft K H to revolve in the direction of the arrow upon the wheel P. At the moment that the shaft H H begins to revolve the roller a of the lever h is resting on the cam G G, at Gr, and the roller m of the lever 12 is resting on the cam G G, at G. The

action of the cam in half a revolution of the shaft H H carries both of these rollers back to their original position, raising thereby the weighted arm E and hammer T, the arm 6 also catching at the same timein the latch I, if

the armature D has been previously released from the electro-magnet A, and has been carried back by its spring f till arrested by the stop a, and the lever 12 catches on the latch u of the lever 0, which has been carried back by its spring 8 into its original position. Meanwhile, the lower surface of the elbow e of the detent Q, which was raised out of the notch d, rests on the periphery of the wheel P during its half-revolution, keeping open the cook it until the notch on the opposite side to d of the periphery of the wheel P receives the detent, which falls into it by the action of the springl, which,bythe same movement, carries back the arm f, and rod 9, and lever i, so as to close the cock It and shut off the water from the engine again. The notch d and the corresponding notch on the opposite side of wheel P are cut away for some distance along the periphery of P, so as to let the detent Q fall into them and shut off the water a moment before the elbow 6 brings up against the end of the notch, and effectually stops the revolution of the wheel P. All the parts are thus restored to their original position and are ready to be liberated, as before, by a telegraphic impulse acting upon the armature D through the electro-magnet A. This series of movements takes place and is completed with every momentary release of the armature D and every half-revolution of the shaft of the water-ea gine M.

If the motion of the armature D were em ployed directly to operate the valve 70 and to raise the detent Q, as it might be, a very great comparative electrical power would be required; but if the armature D is used only to liberate a weighted arm, E, poised nearly vertically, or a series of any number of weighted arms be employed, each arm being heavier than the one which precedes it, and employed to liberate that which succeeds it, the last one liberating the machinery by its momentum in falling, only a small fraction of the same elec trical power will be required.

It is obvious that the arms, in lieu of being weighted, as herein described, may be thrown by springs so arranged as to exert but slight force upon the arms when the latter are raised, but to give a final momentum to the arm adequate to the release of the machinery.

In my improvement in electro magnetic alarm-bells, for which Letters Patent were granted me by the United States of the 4th of May, 1852, the weighted arm E in falling was made to strike up the detent Q without any intervening mechanism, and allowed the hammer raised by the cam G G to fall on the bell.

less electromagnetic power be required to disengage the latch lfrom the lever i. I call this mechanism, or any one similar in principle in which an electro-magnet or its electrical equivalent releases machinery fora given movement, which, at its conclusion, restores the releasing apparatus to its original position, so that the process can be repeated by a new action of the electromagnet, an electromagnetic escapement.

The opening and shutting a cook or watervalve at a distance, by means of an electromagnet or electromagnetic escapement, is a wholly new feature in this my invention.

In place of the rotary water-engine M, a reciprocating water-engine may be substituted. This may be done very simply by attaching the crank of any known form of reciprocating water-engine to the shaft H H and placing in the supply-pipe to said engine a cock, 70, controlled by the same mechanism and with the same general connection of parts as in the drawings. In this case a stroke of the piston in either direction would be equivalent to half a revolution of the rotary engine M.

'To avoid starting and stopping at the deadpoint of the crank, the starting-point might be in the middle or any other part of stroke.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination of an electromagnetic escapement with the cook or water-valve 7c and with the detent Q of a water-engine, separately or conj ointly, for the purpose of controlling its motion from a distance, especially in its application to a fire-alarm telegraph.

2. The employment of two or more arms of progressively-increasing weight, in combination with a water-engine, and with an electromagnet or its equivalent, for the purpose of releasing machinery, as set forth, the first of the weighted arms beingliberated by the electro-magnet, while the last one of the series rereleases the machinery, each of the weighted arms being returned to its normal position by the action of the water-engine.

, MOSES G. FARMER.

Witnesses:

THos. R. ROACH, P. E. TESGHEMACHER. 

